At NOPD, 1 detective and 4 child abuse cases that slipped through the cracks

Updated September 28, 2016 at 12:54 PM;Posted November 12, 2014 at 11:49 AM

NOPD mishandled rapes, OIG says (Fox8 Video)Five NOPD detectives have been transferred to street patrol and are under internal investigation after the city's inspector general found they systematically failed to investigate and document allegations of sexual assault and child abuse.

Cases in which infants were hospitalized for skull fractures, a toddler tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease and a young child complained of sexual abuse at the hands of a registered sex offender were among those identified by the New Orleans Inspector General's office as failing to get proper investigations.

Those cases were handled by one detective, child abuse investigator Akron Davis. He is among five NOPD detectives transferred from the Special Victims Section to street patrol after Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux's office found a pervasive failure to properly investigate rape and child abuse cases. Of the five, Davis was the only detective who had been assigned to child abuse cases.

The report released Wednesday said he was assigned 13 cases of potential sexual or physical abuse in which the victims could possibly still be living in the same home where the alleged abuse occurred.

Due to safety concerns involving the children, these cases were provided to NOPD as soon as the inspector general uncovered them. The NOPD said it immediately made sure they were all either moved from their home, being serviced by child protective services or both.

Out of these 13 cases, 11 had no supplemental reports documenting any investigative effort beyond the initial report. These included:

An infant was taken to a hospital emergency room with a skull fracture. The emergency room nurse wrote that she "suspected non-accidental trauma"; Davis conducted no investigation and closed the case.

An infant was taken to the hospital emergency room with a skull fracture. The doctor found not only a current skull fracture but an old skull fracture as well. The victim's mother changed her story several times, but Davis wrote in the original report that there was no cause for criminal action and closed the case.

A 3-year-old was taken to the hospital emergency room due to an alleged sexual assault. A review of the child's medical records revealed child had a sexually transmitted disease. However, Davis wrote that the victim did not disclose any information that would warrant a criminal investigation and closed the case.

A child was taken to a hospital emergency room due to an alleged sexual assault. A review of hospital records revealed that a forensic interview was conducted by a specialist trained to elicit information from children regarding sexual or physical abuse. The forensic interview report noted specific information regarding sexual and physical abuse by a named individual who was living in the same house with the juvenile; this report also stated that the named individual was a registered sex offender. Davis wrote that the juvenile victim did not disclose any information that would warrant a criminal investigation and closed the case.

NOPD Chief Michael Harrison said internal investigations into the detectives are ongoing.